REVIEW – ON THE WAY TO YOU by Kandi Steiner

That was the question Emery Reed asked me the day we met, and I couldn’t give him a single answer. I could have said my dog, or my books, or yoga — but I just stared.

And then, I got in his car.

It was crazy to take a road trip with a stranger, but after years of standing still, he was my one-way ticket to a new life, and I wasn’t going to miss it.

We shared the same space, the same car, the same hotel room — and still, we were strangers. One day we’d be laughing, the next, we wouldn’t speak. Emery was surrounded by impenetrable walls, but I wanted in.

Discovering his journal changed everything.

I read his thoughts, words not meant for anyone’s eyes, and the more I learned about him, the harder I fell. It turned out nothing made Emery Reed happy, and I wanted to change that.

I earned his trust by violating his privacy, and as wrong as it was, it worked — until one entry revealed a darkness I never knew existed, a timer I never knew was ticking.

Suddenly, what made me happy was saving Emery from himself. I just didn’t know if I could.

*****Patty’s Review*****

*****FIVE+++++++++ STARS*****
{ARC Generously Provided by Author}

Time. Such a simple word. Such a complicated concept. I’d had so much of it, too much of it, wasting away in that small town that I couldn’t wait to leave. I didn’t even notice the ticking of the clock on the wall while I worked at the diner, never considered how many days had passed each time a new birthday rolled around. I didn’t even acknowledge time until the day I left that town, until the day I met Emery. Then, time became a living, breathing, moving thing. And it was entirely too fast.

I can’t remember the last time I read a book by an author that was new to me that I ended up loving with all of my heart! ON THE WAY TO YOU is hauntingly beautiful in its sadness and Kandi Steiner’s exquisite writing has left an indelible mark on my heart. The characters are incredible and their flaws which to most might make them seem imperfect only helped to further endear them to me. I am completely in awe of the beauty of this story. I felt a gamut of emotions while reading this book and I can tell you it seriously was unputdownable. Never did I feel like I was on the outside looking in. It was as if I was experiencing everything with Cooper as she traveled across the country with the beautiful but broken Emery. I have found another author whose writing I have fallen madly in love with. I can’t even tell you how many lines I’ve highlighted in the book and how many tears have been shed while reading it. If you’re into emotional reads, this is one you simply must not pass up.

Cooper Owens has been biding her time until the day she would be able to leave the rundown trailer park in Mobile, Alabama that she has called home for nearly twenty years. She’s been working at a local diner for the past several years and saving as much as she can to pay for her tuition and living expenses in a college in Seattle. Cooper is a vibrant young woman, filled with determination and light. We learn early on that she lost the lower portion of her left leg in a car accident when she was twelve. This would destroy most people, but not Cooper if anything it made her stronger. You can’t help but fall in love with her from the very start.

During one of her early morning shifts at the diner, a handsome stranger sits at one of her stations. Cooper is a little stunned by how gorgeous the guy is and also caught off guard when he asks her–”What makes you happy?” A seemingly simple question but one she couldn’t find the words to provide an answer to. While making small talk with him, Cooper finds out he’s on a road trip by himself heading to Washington. After she tells him that’s where she is attending school in the fall, he offers to give her a lift. While hesitant at first, she eventually throws caution to the wind and takes Emery up on his offer and soon with just a few items of clothing and her little dog, Kalo, the two are off to start a journey that will bring them to some of the many picturesque locations across the country and it will also become a journey to self-awareness.

Early into their travels, Emery starts to have moments where he mentally shuts down and closes himself off to Cooper. At first, she doesn’t question it but as time goes on and tender moments pass between them sporadically, her feelings start to intensify for Emery. His darkness starts to affect her and Emery’s unwillingness to open up to Cooper has her resorting to deceitful behavior when she betrays his trust by secretly reading his journal in hopes of getting inside his head. Cooper knows what she is doing is wrong and every time she goes against better judgment and continues to read his journal you can’t help but feel trepidation as to what will happen when she is caught in the act. There’s just no way that it couldn’t happen, right?

At some point during their travels together, Cooper is able to break through Emery’s defenses and believe me he’s wanted her just as much as she’s wanted him but his belief in the fact that he’s not capable of giving her what she deserves, has helped him to keep his distance from her. But one night he’ll be too weak to fight it any longer and all I can say is I honestly don’t think I’ve ever read a more beautiful description of two people making love for the very first time. My sappy romantic self was over the moon and floating on a cloud high in the sky. It was passionate, and it was panty melting but the description was poetic and beautiful. It was Cooper’s first time and Emery made sure it was filled with tenderness and reverence.

Every time they had a good day, I felt all the warm and fuzzy butterflies fluttering in my stomach but I also knew that soon enough there would be days of darkness and despair when Emery was lost to the depression that plagued him and my heart broke with Cooper’s every time. I had such a feeling of foreboding through the second half of the book but I knew that I had to see things through with Emery and Cooper.

I don’t want to give anything else away. All I can say is that I am so honored to have been able to receive an advanced copy of this truly amazing story and I know on release day I will be gifting this book to some of my book besties!

For those of you who battle with depression or have been in love with someone who suffer from depression, this is one story that will surely hit close to home. I especially loved the author’s note after the epilogue.

ON THE WAY TO YOU is currently available. Be sure and one-click!! This is one book you simply must read!